Conduit, such as cable or pipeline, is increasingly used in environments accessible via seas or waterways. Conventionally marine transport of conduit has involved large reels, cages or tanks on vessels, such as pipelaying vessels, or supply vessels, for transportation of the conduit to an installation or unloading site. Typically, continuous conduit is rolled onto the reel, cage or tank when the vessel is docked at an onshore supply base. However, permanently locating the drum or reel, cage or tank on the vessel means that after all the conduit on the reel, cage or tank has been deployed, the vessel must return to the onshore supply base to replenish conduit. This involves breaks in work, costing both time and money, or it requires multiple vessels to provide a continuous supply of conduit. In addition, manufacture or loading of the conduit onto the reels, cages or tanks may be dependent on the presence of a vessel, as space at the supply base may be at a premium.
As an alternative, floating reels have been used to accommodate conduit for storage or transportation. In some applications, a reel or multiple reels have been towed along behind a vessel to free up deck space. The floating reels require heavy duty reels and associated equipment to manage reeling or unreeling in marine environments.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,692 describes a cable laying arrangement in which cables are retracted from a floating cable storage reel. GB384186 and SU1634203 describe arrangements including a floating cable storage drum. WO2005/059432 describes an arrangement in which a hose is stored upon a floating reel.